The Warcraft movie is finally out, so of course I immediately went to see it. I had ordered a special movie package online that has a steel case blu-ray (gets sent on release) plus a code for a free warcraft game and a code for a free movie ticket. I have my Pathé Unlimited so I gave the free ticket to Nienke and she came along.

The movie itself is good. It has some points for improvement. For example, they’re trying to show a lot and give a lot of information. For those unfamiliar with the game and its world that can cause overload. But overall it is a good fantasy movie, and a great video game movie.

Thursday was theater-day. Mom and I had tickets to go see Opera Zuid perform La Bohème. They did a straight forward adaptation, no changes to time or place. The staging was basic in structure and filled in with details to make it look real. Which worked very well. The performances were very good. I definitely want to go see this company again.

Today, Gert and I popped over to Amsterdam to see the Warcraft movie in IMAX 3D. It was great fun, but I really don’t see the added value of IMAX 3D. I had to keep my head still and in the exact same position all the time or I would see double. And everything is so blown up that every panning shot was just a blurry mess.

After the movie we had a quick fast food dinner and hopped on the train back home.

Just got back from the theater where I saw Daniel Lohues perform. He has a new album out, Aosem, and he played songs from that, together with choice numbers from earlier albums. Daniel is always good. His songs are great and he is a fantastic storyteller. The only thing that I liked less is that the songs from the older albums were mostly the same ones he did last year when he was touring his previous album. His repertoire is so large, he could’ve easily changed up some more songs for variety.

Mom was supposed to go with me. But there was prediction of real bad weather, so she decided not to go. I said, fuck it, and hopped on the train and went anyway 😀

The weather turned out to be just fine. It rained quite a lot, apparently, but that was while I was inside the Theater. During my moments of transit, everything was peachy.

Thursday, Mom and I went to Appingedam for some shopping. The thrift store there is amazing, I’m in love. It’s huge, spread out over two floors, and has a very large book section. We also walked through town a bit and saw, among other things, the famous hanging kitchens.

More movies yesterday. After eating at Pappa Joe’s, Gert and I went to see The Nice Guys. I had seen trailers and it seemed like a fun movie. But in a way that I also didn’t quite know what to expect. Featuring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as private investigators who reluctantly team up to find a missing young woman, there’s a lot of comedy, but in a bit of a dark and forlorn way. The kid playing Gosling’s daughter steals the screen, though 🙂

Then we saw Captain America: Civil War. I have mixed feelings about this film, and I think that shows how good it is. I really like the Avengers. As individuals I like some more than others, but as a team, I love them. And I don’t like it when my team is fighting among themselves. Especially since both sides make good points. As such it is an excellent exploration of responsibility, accountability, guilt, trust and friendship.

I spent a large part of the movie being conflicted. In the end I side with Tony because I like Tony better than Steve. But I just want my babies to get along 🙁 They don’t have to be the best of friends. I don’t think they can be that. But at least a close partnership and mutual trust,

Busy day, today! I’ve been reading a new comic book series the last year called Amoras. It’s a six book series that tells a Suske & Wiske story in a dystopian future. There’s time travel, crime, death, blood and a fair amount of cursing and swearing. Suffice to say, it’s definitely not meant for kids. I really like the storyline and how it looks. A while ago I saw on Facebook that the Stripmuseum (comic museum) in Groningen would show an exhibition of Amoras pieces.

Since I am now the proud owner of a museum card, I decided it was time to go see. I asked Gert if he wanted to come as well, but he declined. So, this morning I made my way to Groningen. I arrived around lunch time and felt a wee bit peckish. The Stripmuseum is located above the McDonalds. So rather than go look for a place, I just hit the Mac for a quick and easy lunch.

After, I got my ticket for the museum and started looking around. I began with the regular collection that was divided into themes. First there was a section on comic art used in music and theater posters, other promotional imagery and album covers. Then it led me chronologically through the development of comics in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Once through all that, you end up on the top floor where there’s space for the changing exhibition. Which in this case was the Amoras one. It was interesting to see the process. There were many storyboards, sketches, and line-art pieces from all six of the books. The only thing I thought was a shame was the order of display. They went mostly by sort of art, and then chronologically. So, storyboards book one, storyboards book two and so on, then sketches book one, sketches book two, rinse and repeat. I would have liked to see the order from idea to end product. So the storyboard for a page, then its sketch, the line-art, and then the coloured page. So you can really see how it changes before getting to its final point.

When I got out, I made my way to the centre of the city to meet up with Gert and see X-Men: Apocalypse. I’d heard some bad stuff about it, but I liked it. The build-up wasn’t always strong enough. I didn’t notice, for instance, that the end battle was the end battle until it was a good bit underway. And I would have liked to see a bit more detail on the origin of Apocalypse.

Then it was time for some dinner. We decided to go to the Frietwinkel. This is a fairly new place that does fries. It’s all about the organic and the fresh. They literally cut fries from fresh potatoes right there instead of using frozen pre-cut fries. And they serve fries with pulled chicken. Which is fucking delicious. The place also looks rustic nice with old stools, crates on the walls and such.

Right after that we went back to the Pathé. This time to see the Angry Birds movie. It’s not very good. The only thing I found quite funny was this one scene, a homage to the slow-down-time-in-the kitchen scene in the previous X-Men movie. And they also did a sort of homage to that scene in X-Men: Apocalypse. So that was a fun coincidence. Other than that, it’s a generic animated kids movie.

I love the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s a fabulous festival of music, weirdness, and sass. Now that they split it up in three parts, it’s also two extra fun times to watch, and live tweet 😀 So here’s a recap of some highlights from this week.

Ascension Day was Thursday, so as is our tradition, Ingrid came over. We went to the annual market in my old town and played board games. The weather was real nice so we headed to the market on bike. Excellent opportunity for a few quick pics.

The good weather continued so Sunday I headed over to Nienke for lunch. Nom!

It’s that time of year again, Elf Fantasy Fair. And this year, too, we had a camp throughout the weekend. The weather was real nice, plus we had a good spot along one of the main walkways.

I did some walking around, checking out the sights and stands. I ate a candy apple, which I’d never had before. Also acquired some new loots. Them being the Star Trek Catan board game, the book Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and a Mal Reynolds (Firefly) Funko Pop. I’ve had the book and the game on my list for a while now, so I’m pleased I found them here. And very affordable as well, I got a good deal on the game especially.

Last week I saw The Jungle Book with Gert. It is an amazing movie, absolutely stunning in visual quality. The story is familiar but re-told in a good way, with some added darkness here and there to make it more realistic. I love that they kept the magicality of the whole by still letting the animals talk, and sing. Neel Sethi performs a good Mowgli, it it occasionally uneven, but I didn’t mind as that only underscores the fact that Mowgli’s a kid an really in over his head.

Today we saw Kung Fu Panda 3. I’d never seen the first two, so over the weekend I watched both of them on Netflix. I was pleasantly surprised by all three of them. They are really good. They tell good stories, I like the characters and the animation is very nice.

I lost track of time a bit, and am also short on time right now. So short this will be, as well.

April first I went to see Zootopia with Gert. It’s a very good movie. Very well made, good story and a good message as well.

April 2nd, Ikea brought my shelves and Nienke’s dining set. I built mine, and Nienke’s parents picked up her set to deliver to Nienke’s house.

Then on Sunday I went to the farm where we had a work day to get material for our re-enactment camp back in good shape. We fixed existing benches and tables, and also built new ones. In the picture we’re working on the new kitchen workbench. It was a good day to spend outside, and we got a lot done.

The week after saw the voting for the Ukraine-referendum. I voted for the agreement, and am pretty bummed it didn’t pass.

Last Saturday I went to the Farm again, this time for Feije’s birthday. I got him books, as I like to do for small children. An informative book with huge pictures and fold out sheets about animals and a story book about a little kid on a farm with a goat. The kid as drawn looks quite like Feije.

Later this week we’re going to Ikea again. This time to pick up an extra dresser for my bed room. Plus there’s a movie plan for Friday and a Mom birthday this Sunday 🙂

Tse Elsewhere

Random Quote

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man’s mind can get both provocation and privacy.